1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to safety outlet covers, specifically safety outlet covers for electrical outlets.
2. Description of the Related Art
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,805,580, a safety cover installed over an electrical wall outlet is disclosed, which comprises two quarter-shell segments hinged about their median sections to a base. When the two segments are clamped together, they form a protective hood over the outlet. When separated, the segments fall away from the outlet to provide free access to it. A sleeve surrounding the base can be slid over the root of the shell segments to lock them in their closed position. The mating edges of the clamped segments are indented in their center section to accommodate the electrical cord of a jack plugged into the outlet.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,198,046 discloses a device that includes a base plate attachable to an electric outlet and an insert fitted to the base plate and having one or more central openings for exposing the receptacles of the electric outlet. A pair of opposing door members attach to the base plate and are operable between an open position to allow insertion of a plug of an electrical cord into the receptacle, and a closed position to provide a protective shield surrounding an enclosed chamber and the one or more receptacles of the outlet. The opposing door members include flange portions extending partially along a peripheral edge for overlapping engagement with an inner surface adjacent the peripheral edge of the opposite door, preventing insertion of an object between the doors when the device is closed. Correspondingly positioned cutout portions along the peripheral edges of the opposing door members align to create an opening sized and configured to accommodate passage of the electrical cord there through, thereby permitting the cord to remain plugged into the receptacle with the doors in the closed position. Latches on the top and bottom of each door lock the doors in the closed position. The latches and flange portions function, in combination, to provide a child resistant safety feature, requiring both doors to be simultaneously unlocked and opened in order to gain access to the receptacles.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,556,289 discloses a safety cover for an electrical outlet including a hollow rigid container having a back wall with a periphery extended outwards therefrom and thereby defining a hollow interior, an opening to the interior, and a rim bounding the opening, the back wall further including a plurality of socket holes and a screw hole formed thereon and with the socket holes and screw hole alignable with a screw hole and corresponding socket plugs of an electrical receptacle; a rigid lid positionable over the opening of the container in contact with the rim, the lid further having a plurality of plug holes formed thereon and with each plug hole separately alignable with a socket hole of the back wall of the container; and a plurality of rigid doors with each door positionable within a plug hole of the lid and thereby creating a through hole for receipt of an electrical cord; and a coupling mechanism for removably coupling each door within a separate plug hole of the lid.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,218,169 discloses a safety cover for an electric receptacle having a mounting plate fitting over an electrical receptacle, and a cover assembly with a cover edge extending around the periphery thereof, the mounting plate having an edge engagable surface thereon corresponding in shape to the cover edge. The cover assembly is mountable on the mounting plate between a closed and an open position. The cover assembly has a plurality of locking projections spaced around the periphery of the cover assembly at positions so that they are incapable of simultaneous operation by a hand below a predetermined size. When the cover assembly is closed, locking hooks on the locking projections engage in locking hook-receiving apertures in the mounting plate structure and the cover edge is snugly abutted against the edge engagable surface. The cover assembly can be moved to the open position only by simultaneous deformation of the cover assembly at the positions of the locking hooks sufficient to move the locking hooks sufficiently far inwardly of the cover assembly to free the locking hooks from the locking hook receiving apertures.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,467,793 discloses a safety cover for electrical outlets which can be mounted on the electrical outlet without changing the same and in which locking means has been provided to prevent the same from being opened by children.
Finally, U.S. patent D460,421 discloses the ornamental design for a hinged outlet cover.
What is needed is a safety outlet cover that solves one or more of the problems described herein and/or one or more problems that may come to the attention of one skilled in the art upon becoming familiar with this specification.